Rental Operations

Expedia, Priceline Owe State Excise Tax

State Circuit Judge Gary W.B. Chang ruled that online travel companies — including Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotwire, and others — must pay Hawaii’s general excise tax on certain rental car transactions in Hawaii, according to a report by Hawaii’s Department of the Attorney General.

Hawaii had issued tax assessments of general excise taxes, interest, and penalties to online travel companies for failing to file tax returns and pay general excise taxes for tax years 2000 through 2012, says the report.

Last year, the Hawaii Supreme Court concluded online travel companies must pay general excise tax on the sale of hotel rooms in Hawaii. The court upheld tax assessments on gross receipts from online travel car rentals — not sold as part of a travel or tour package with other services like airline or hotel reservations, according to the report.

The Court also ruled that under a special provision in Hawaii’s general excise tax law for tourism related services, these companies owe general excise taxes on their net receipts from car rental transactions that were included in a travel or tour package sold to consumers.

The final amount of taxes, penalties, and interest to be collected by Hawaii is yet to be determined, but it’s expected to be in the millions of dollars, according to the report.

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Over the past few years, Europcar, has become a global provider of mobility solutions, offering a wide range of services such as, car rental, van and truck rental, chauffeur services, carsharing, and peer-to-peer carsharing.